Class GbLlZTl 

Book J1Sl5__ 

COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT; 



Copyrighted, 1894 

by . > 



-A 

Condensed Text- Book 

OF 

WHIST 

THE AMERICAN LEADS 

WITH THE 

Principal plays of the Second and 
Third Hands ; together with 
a Few Rules 

m?G. n. 



To 

Miss Gertrude Clapp 

to WHOM I OWE 
MY KNOWLEDGE OF WHIST, THIS 
BOOK IS GRATEFULLY INSCRIBED 
BY HER SINCERE ADMIRER 

R. G 



Cfye Ctmcrican Scabs. 



american Leads constitute the best system of 
signals. 

They are called American because introduced by 
Mr. Nicholas Browse Trist, of New Orleans. 

They have been accepted and incorporated in 
Cavendish' s Twenty-first Edition on Whist. 

They specially show the length of suit in two leads 
by following on the second lead with the higher or 
lower of indifferent cards, when the higher never shows 
more than four originally, and the lower never less 
than five. ' 

Indifferent means cards placed or marked in your 
hand by a previous lead; indifferent, because it 
makes no difference which you lead as far as taking 
the trick is concerned. 

An Original Lead means one of two things and 
sometimes one of three. 



5 



DEFINITION OF ACE. 



Ace means one of two things; any four or more 
small cards besides the Ace, including Knave or Ten, 
as a small card; or 

Ace, Queen, Knave, with one or others. 

(Small Ones mean all the small cards including 
Ten.) 

Ace Leads in Detail, Plain Suits and Trumps. 

Ace, King, Knave, and two or more small ones, 
ist Ace, 2nd King. 

Ace, Queen, Knave, with or without others, 
i st Ace, 2nd Queen, 

if three or four in suit ; 

2nd Knave, if five or more in suit. « 

Ace, Queen, Knave, Ten. 

ist Ace, 2nd Ten. 

(It means just four in suit.) 

Forced Lead. 

Ace, King. 

ist Ace. 2nd King. 



6 



Plain Suits. 

Ace, King, and three or more besides. 

ist Ace, 2nd King. 

Ace and four or more small ones. 

i st Ace, 2nd Fourth best- 



7 



DEFINITION OF KING. 



King means one of two things ; touched by the 
Ace, or Queen, or both, and at most only four in suit. 

-King Leads in Detail, Plain Suits and Trumps. 

Ace, King, Queen only or with one other, 
ist King, 2nd Queen, 3rd Ace. 

King, Queen, Knave only. 

ist King, 2nd Queen. 

(The Queen falling after the King will not make your 
■partner think that Ace, King, Queen and a small one 
are in your hand ; for probably the Ace will take the 
.trick if he does not hold it.) 

Ace, King, Queen, Knave. 

ist King, 2nd Knave, 3rd Ace. 
(Quart Major.) 

King, Queen, Knave and one other. 

ist King, 2nd Knave. 

King, Queen, Knave, Ten. 

ist King, 2nd Ten. 



8 



Plain Suits. 

Ace, King, and one or two small ones. 

ist King, 2nd Ace. 

King, Queen, and one or two small ones. 

ist King, 2nd fourth best, 

if King wins. 

2nd Queen, if King is taken. 



9 



DEFINITION OF QUEEN. 



Queen means one of three things as an original 
lead, and has a forced lead in addition : 

The Top of a Sequence; The Bottom of a Sequence; 
or, King, Queen ; and at least three small ones. 

The Forced Lead. 
Queen, Knave, and one small one. 

Queen Leads in Detail, Plain Suits and Trumps, 

Ace, King, Queen, and two or more. 

1st Queen, 2nd Ace, 

if five originally in suit. 

2nd King, if six or more originally in suit. 

King, Queen, and five small ones. 

1st Queen, 2nd fourth best 

from Queen, if Queen wins. 
2nd King, if Queen is taken. 

Queen, Knave, Ten, Nine. 

1st Queen, 2nd Nine. 

(It means just four.) 

10 



Queen, Knave, Ten, with or without others, 
ist Queen, 2nd Knave, 

if three or four originally in suit. 

Second Ten, if five or more originally in suit. 

King, Queen, Ten, and two or more. 

ist Queen, 2nd fourth best 

from the Queen, if she wins. 

Forced Lead. 

Queen, Knave, and one small one. 
ist Queen. 

2nd Knave, if Queen wins. 

2nd small card, if Queen is taken. 

Plain Suits. 

King, Queen, and three or four small ones. 

ist Queen, 2nd fourth best 

from Queen, if she wins. 



DEFINITION OF A KNAVE. 



The Knave means the Bottom of a Sequence, and 
at Least Five in Suit, for both Plain Suits and 
Trumps, but it is the Only Original Lead of a Knave 
in Plain Suits. 

In Trumps a Knave is Led also at the Top of a 
Sequence. In Addition there is a Forced Lead of the 
Knave as the Highest of Three Cards. 

Knave Leads in Detail, Plain Suits and Trumps. 

Ace, King, Queen, Knave, and one or two small ones, 
ist Knave, Second Ace, 

if five originally in suit. 

2nd King, if six in suit. 

2nd Queen, if seven in suit. 

King, Queen, Knave, and two or more small ones, 
ist Knave, 2nd King, 

if five originally in suit. 

2nd Queen, if six or more originally in suit. 

Notice, that when Knave is followed by Ace there 
is just one small card in leader's hand besides the 
four honors; when followed by King, two small cards, 
whether Ace is there or not; and when followed 
by Queen three small cards. 



12 



DEFINITION OF TEN. 



Ten means King, Knave in hand together with 
the Ten and one or more small ones. 

Ten Leads in Detail, Plain Suits and Trumps. 

King, Knave, Ten with or without others, 
i st Ten. 

2nd A. Fourth best, if Ten wins. 

2nd B. King, if Ten is taken by Ace. 

2nd C. King, if four in suit originally, but 
Knave, if five in suit originally, if Ten is taken by 
Queen, or both Ace and Queen. 



FOURTH BEST LEADS. 



An Original Nine Lead is only a fourth best lead, 
but in plain suits and trumps the combination in the 
leader s hand must be, either Ace, Queen, Ten, Nine; 
or, Ace, Knave, Ten, Nine> without small ones. In 
addition in Trumps you may have Ace, King, Ten, 
Nine alone, or with one or two small ones. 

Queen, Knave, and two or more small ones. 
Play Fourth Best. 
(If King takes fourth best.) 
2nd Queen, if four originally in suit. 
2nd Knave, if five in suit. 



14 



GENERAL RULES. 



Never make an original lead of a singleton in plain 
suits. 

Lead from your strongest suit, which usually means 
longest. 

Always give your partner the highest of three cards 
when you know it is his suit. 

Subtract the face value of a fourth best card led 
from eleven, and the remainder will be the number 
of higher cards in the other three hands. 

When you open a strong suit with a high card and 
cannot follow with another high card, let your second 
lead be your Fourth best, counting from the original 
highest in your hand, with one exception ; when you 
hold King, Queen, and three or four small ones, then 
you open with Queen and afterwards play fourth best 
from Queen. 

When you open a strong suit with a high card and 
two high indifferent cards remain in your hand, on 
the second lead follow with the higher, if you had not 
more than four originally in suit, but with the lower, 
if you had five or more. 



15 



TRUMP LEADS WHERE THEY DIF- 
FER FROM PLAIN SUITS. 



Ace, King, and five small ones, 
i st Ace, 

Ace, and six small ones, 
i st Ace, 



2nd Fourth best. 



2nd King. 



Ace, King and three small ones, 
ist Fourth best. 

You cannot lead Ace in Trumps unless you have 
three honors or six besides the Ace. 

King, Queen, Ten and one small one. 

ist King, 2nd Fourth best, 

if you do not stop the suit and wait for your partner to 
return it. 

King, Queen, and two small ones, 
ist Fourth best. 

Ace, King, and two small ones, 
ist Fourth best. 

Ace, Queen, Ten, one or more. 

(Knave turned up to the right.) 
ist Queen. 



16 



King, Queen, and three or four small ones. 

i st Fourth best. 
King, Queen, Ten, and two or more small ones. 

i st Queen, 2nd Fourth best,, 

from Queen if she wins. 

Knave, Ten, Nine, with one or more. 

ist Knave, " 2nd Ten, 

if three or four in suit. 

2nd Nine, if five or more in suit. 

(It is permissible to begin with fourth best.) 
Knave, Ten, Nine, Eight. 
*ist Knave. 2nd Eight. 

(It means just four.) 
King, Knave, Nine, 

(If Ten is turned up to your right) 
Lead Knave. 
Knave, Ten, Eight, 

(If Nine -is turned up to your right) 
Lead Knave. 

Trump Rules. 

Always lead from five trumps, unless you have 
another suit in your hand of five unestablished, then 
establish that before beginning'trumps. 

Do not signal for trumps unless you have at least 
one honor among your trumps and a suit in addition, 
or unless your partner has shown one. 

*You may begin with fourth best when you have the four 
in sequence. * 



17 



With five or more trumps, signal on your partner' s 
lead of Ace, Queen or Knave. 

If you wish to signal when you are playing the 
plain suit echo, use the two middle cards. 

An echo is the same as a trump signal playing an 
unnecessarily high card, followed by a lower one. 

When your partner leads trumps holding Ace, 
King, and two small ones, take with Ace and return 
King ; that is another way of echoing. 

If impossible to echo in trumps when you hold 
four, signal in plain suits at your first opportunity. 

To refuse to trump a certain trick is the best call 
for trumps that can be given. 

To refuse to trump an uncertain trick, you must 
have four trumps or two honors among three. 

When you cannot afford to force your partner to 
trump, you can always afford to force your adversary ; 
you must have four trumps, or two honors among 
three, to force your partner. 

Always force your adversary when he is leading 
trumps or signaling for them. 

To lead a single trump, or from two or three, you 
must have the command of the other three suits. 

To lead King of trumps and stop places in leader's 
hand : Ace, Knave, and one small card, or Queen ; 
Ten and one small card ; so return lead as soon as 
possible, and if you have a Queen, a Knave, or a 
Ten, return it. 



18 



When trumps are with you, discard from your 
poorest suit; but when trumps are against you, dis- 
card from your strongest and best suit; after the first 
discard, use your judgment. 

It is a lesser evil, if next the dealer, to lead from 
four trumps, if all your other suits are suits of three. 
If not next the dealer use your judgment. Return 
your partner's lead ;Tead through strength, or up to 
weakness. 

To lead the losing trump when eleven have been 
played, you must be sure whatever is led you or 
your partner can get in. To refuse to draw the 
losing trump, when eleven have been played, is 
because your suit is not established and your adver- 
sary' s is. 

In response to your partner' s signal for trumps, 
if you have five and are forced trump in with next 
to the lowest, and give the lowest to your partner ; if 
you had four originally, trump in with next to the 
lowest, and give the highest of three left in your hand 
to your partner ; if you have only two or three trumps 
when your . partner signals, give him the higher of 
two, or highest of three ; if you had four the 
lowest, unless you had an Ace, when you must lead it. 



l 9 



SECOND IN HAND. 



A good general principle for second in hand is : 
play high on a low card led, if you hold any combina- 
tion which would make you lead high, if you were 
going to lead that suit 

As a general rule second in hand, pass an honor 
led from strength, if you have only one honor and it 
is not the Ace. 

You almost always play low on low card led with 
Ace and small cards. 

With Ace, Knave, and a small card you may stay 
off a King led ; but with two small cards it must 
depend upon your strength in trumps. 

Play Ace on original lead of Knave ; but with Ace, 
Ten, and one small one you may play low. 

With Ace and one or more small ones. 

Play low on a weak lead of Knave. 

With Ace, Queen, with or without others. 
Play Ace on Knave. 



20 



With Ace, Knave, and one or more small ones. 
*Play low on low card. 

Ace, King and two small ones in trumps. 
King on Queen. 

Ace, King, and two or more small ones in trumps. 
Low on low card. 

Ace, King, and one" or two small ones in plain 
suits. 

Play King. 

King and one small card. 

Play low on low card led. 

King and one other. 

Play King on Nine. 

King and Nine. 

Play King on Eight. 

King, Knave. 

King on low card, but not on Nine. 

Ace, King, Knave, with or without others. 

King on low card, unless right hand adversary has 
turned up Queen, then play Knave, but ordinarily 
you can finesse your Knave better on the second 
round. 

King, Knave, with or without others. 
King on Queen. 

Ace, King, Queen, with or without others. 
Queen on low card. 

*In plain suits King and Queen cannot be in leader's hand, 
and in trumps you play a backward game. 



21 



King, Queen, with or without others in plain suits. 
Queen on low card. 

King, Queen, with others in trumps. 

Low on low card. 

Ace, Queen, three or more small ones, weak in 
trumps. 

Queen. 

Ace, Queen, and one or two small ones. 
Low. 

Ace, Queen, and three small ones, strong in trumps. 
Low. 

Ace, Queen, Ten, and one or more, weak in 
trumps. 

Queen. 

Ace, Queen, Ten, one or more, strong in trumps. 
Ten. 

King, Queen, and one other, in plain suits and 
trumps. 

Queen. 

Ace, Queen, with or without others. 

Queen on Nine or Ten led. 

King, Queen, and one or more in plain suits. 
Low on Knave. 

King, Queen, and one or more in trumps. 
Queen on Knave. 

Ace, Queen, Ten, one or more. 

Queen on Knave. 



22 



King, Queen, Ten, one or more. 

Queen on Knave. 

Queen, Ten, one or more. 

Queen on Knave. 

Queen and low card. 

Queen on Nine or Ten led.. 

Queen and two small ones. 

Low on Ten led. 

Queen and low card. 

Low on low card. 

King, Queen, Ten, and two or more in plain suits 
and trumps. 

Queen on low card. 

Ace, King, Queen, Knave. 

Knave. 

King, Queen, Knave, with or without others. 
Knave. 

Queen, Knave, and one small one, plain suits and! 
trumps. 

Knave. 

Queen, Knave, and two small ones. 
Low. 

Knave, and one small card. 

Knave on Ten, Nine, or Eight- 
King, Knave, with or without others. 

Knave on Nine. 



23 



Ten is played at the bottom of a sequence of three 
or four cards in sequence. 

Knave, Ten, and one small card. 
Ten. 

Knave, Ten, and two small cards. 
Low. 

Ace, Queen, Ten only. 

Ten. 

Ace, Queen, Ten, one or more, strong in trumps. 
Ten. 

King, Knave, Ten. 

Ten. 

Any Honor, Ten, and small card. 

Ten on Eight led. 

Ace, Knave, Ten, one or more in plain suits. 
Low. 

Ace, Knave, Ten, and one or more in trumps. 
Ten. 

Ten, Nine, and small card. 

Nine on low card. 

Knave, Nine and small card. 

Nine on Eight. 

King, Knave, Ten, Nine. 

Nine. 

King, or Queen, Nine and small card, in trumps. 
Nine on Eight. 



24 



In trumps if King or Queen is turned up and you 
hold it singly guarded it is better to put it on second 
in hand, or if you hold King or Queen second in 
hand and a higher honor is turned to your right with 
only one small card you had better play your honor. 

A Fourchette is a next card higher and a next card 
lower than the one led." 

With Knave led, Queen, Ten in the second in hand 
would be a fourchette. 

When you have a fourchette, it is almost always 
right to cover a strengthening card led. 



25 



THIRD IN HAND. 



Holding Ace, Knave only. 

Play Ace on King, return Knave at once. 
(The only unblocking you do for a King. ) 

Ace, Knave only. 

Ace on Queen and return Knave. 

Ace, and one other. 

Ace on Knave in plain suits. 

Ace, and two or any number of small ones. 
Low on Knave led. 

Never put Ace on partner' s Queen, unless you 
have Ace, Knave ; then you know he has led from 
King, Queen and others, or if second hand has none 
of the suit and refuses to trump. 

Ace and one or more small ones. 
Ace on Ten, 

Ace, Queen only. 

Ace on Ten and return Queen ; but if you 
have more than Ace, Queen, play low. 

In trumps you may finesse Ace, Knave, if an honor 
is turned up to your right. 



26 



Ace, King, and one other. 
King on Queen. 

Ace, King, and two others. 

Low on Queen, if she is followed by Knave; 
Low, but if followed by Ten, take Ten with King and 
return Ace when you continue. 

King, and one other. 
King on Queen. 

King and two small ones. (Ace led.) 

Low, if Ace is followed by Knave, play King; 
but if followed by Queen play low. 

If your only honor is the King, you should gener- 
ally pass a Knave led, as your partner leads it from 
weakness. 

Holding four cards with an honor. 
Play lowest on Queen led. 

A Tenace is the first and third best (Major Tenace),. 
or second and fourth best (Minor Tenace). 

Holding just four cards with or without honors,, 
when your partner leads Ace retain the lowest. 

Plain Suit Echo. 

Holding just four cards without an honor when 
your partner leads Queen or Knave, retain the 
lowest; the only exception is when second in hand 
has none of the suit. 



27 



FOURTH IN HAND. 



Usually the fourth hand wins the trick if possible, 
there are some exceptions better learned through 
play, for instance with an Ace, Knave, and small 
card ; or, an Ace, Ten, and small card it is good play 
very often to let a King led take the trick. 



28 



NOTICE. 



Unnecessary delay in playing, fingering your cards 
while coming to a decision, drumming on the table 
and other noises are mannerisms , for which people are 
severely criticised by nervous players. 

For the study of the game of Whist, ' ' Cavendish 
on Whist," twenty-first edition; "Whist Develop- 
ments," by Cavendish, and " The Gist of Whist, " 
by Charles E. Coffin, are suggested. 



29 




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